your pictures are already very good…love the pix of the aquamarine crystals!
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Thanks, Steve! Been tweaking my imaging setup since I started this thread. It’s been a challenge to overcome the ultrawide lens on the phone. Everyone has been putting some really good information out there.
Going to try and apply a few suggestions from this thread and post some updated images. 
you have some great pix already… small stones harder… mineral specimens are first class… wish you luck, tweak somemore and see where you get… keep on posting… thanks for the response… I do like your pix a lot more than the usual out of focus, low resolutions one that a lot of amateurs post…keep up the good work… thanks
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Thank you, sir! Appreciate the feedback. I’m still not satisfied with my efforts, though. Guess this means I have entered the perpetual perfectionism phase of gemstone photography… 
Cheers!
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I have discovered a new way to photograph gems for close ups. I put my 10x loupe in front of my cheap phone camera. Zoom 2.5x with the phone camera so the loupe cannot be seen. Focus by moving the phone loupe combo closer or farther away. I have gotten some decent pics. I’ll include a couple
Hi Bob! Been a while, sir!
Using the 10x loupe in front of the phone camera lens is a great idea!!! How do you hold the loupe steady? My first thought would be some duct-tape (because that fixes everything! 
) but I am sure it’s simpler than that.
Cheers!
I just hold my loupe over the lens. I have a belmo and I put my finger in the folding cover part and hold loupe and phone with one hand and the other hand to hit the shutter button.
I think it looks great pretty cool
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Thanks Quentin! I have done some additional practice so I think I may have improved some since I started asking the forum. Everyone who chimed in has helped in some way. Should be able to get back to the lab this weekend and post a few.
Cheers!
There is a pic with the loupe in front of the phone. It’s 9mm total width
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Bob, that trick works! Been playing around with the loupe and after a bit more practice, I think it will help tremendously!
Field of view is 25mm x 15mm
My loupe is a cheesy doublet with terrible coma and parallax… so I think its time to invest in a good triplet.
THANK YOU!
I don’t remember how I stumbled upon the loupe trick but it does work. Lol. Especially on cut gems. It’s a little tricky to get the loupe and phone steady and in focus but it gets easier as you do it more. I have several thousand dollars worth of Nikon equipment. Soft boxes macro lens ect ect ect. When I want to accomplish the same pic with my good stuff it takes a lot of time and I have to stack photos to get any depth of field. I have a belmo triplet and I enjoy the simplicity. When I want a picture of my meet points it’s quick and easy. My phone has a 6x zoom. I usually set it at 2x but if I want the most detail I go to something more. Keep playing with it and you will be able to take pics quickly too.